


So Much Better

by thatwriterlady



Series: 30 Day Writing Challenge 2018 [12]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Family, Feelings, Love, M/M, Reminiscing, Support, Thinking, Wedding Day, preparations, remembering
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-14
Updated: 2018-11-14
Packaged: 2019-08-23 12:11:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,359
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16618733
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thatwriterlady/pseuds/thatwriterlady
Summary: Dean is in the room at the back of the church.  It's his wedding day, and if there's one thing he knows, it's that the man waiting up at the front of the church is his future, and he loves him more than anything in the world, but that doesn't mean he's not a little nervous.  His mind wanders back to how he met Cas, and how he'd come to fall in love with him.  It might not have been love at first sight, but once he fell, there was no coming back.





	So Much Better

**Author's Note:**

> Here is Day 12. I hope you like this one.

**Day 12- Silk**

 

Dean smoothed his hands down his jacket and stared at his reflection in the mirror.  Charlie came up behind him, peeking around his arm since she was too short to look over his shoulder.

 

“You look so handsome,”

 

He gave a lopsided smile.  “Yeah?”

 

“Dean, you look amazing.  Here, turn around,”

 

He turned to face her, watching as she tucked a powder blue handkerchief in his breast pocket.  She was careful, deliberate in the way she tucked and folded it until it was shaped just right.

 

“There.  It’s your something old and your something blue.  Your suit is the something new.  I guess this also counts as the something borrowed, since it belonged to my grandfather.  He wore it on his wedding day too,”  She took a step back and looked at it.  “It matches your tie so well that you’d think they were bought at the same place.”  


 

He turned to look in the mirror again.  It really did match his tie perfectly.  He ran his fingers down his waistcoat and smiled as he thought about how Cas had told him he needed one, that he looked incredibly handsome when he wore them.  This one matched his jacket and pants, and was the same light gray.  He pulled his jacket closed finally and buttoned it.  His fingers went to the handkerchief, gently rubbing at the fabric.

 

“Is this silk?”

 

“Yes, just like your tie.  My mom had is carefully saved in case I ever wanted my future husband to wear it.  Oops,”  She grinned, making him laugh.

 

“Who knows, maybe Gilda will wear it one day, or even you.  Gilda, I see her as more of a wedding dress kind of girl,”  He took a deep, cleansing breath and touched his hair.  It was perfectly styled.  His fingers rubbed at his jaw, making sure he didn’t need to shave again.  The skin was smooth though, and he was glad that was one less thing he’d need to do.  His cologne had already been applied, just a bit, so he didn’t overwhelm everyone, and after making sure he hadn’t missed anything in his teeth and that his breath didn’t stink, he turned to face her again. 

 

“I need pictures,”  She declared.

 

“Of course you do,”  He teased affectionately.  She lifted her camera up and he posed for at least a dozen pictures.

 

“Did you do this for Cas too?”  He asked.

 

“I am about to go and take his pictures.  Benny and Sam will be in here soon, and if I have the time, I’ll get your pictures with them next.  First though, I need Cas, Gabe, and Meg.  Hang tight, I’ll be back in just a few,”  She was rushing out the door before he could protest, not that he’d planned to anyway.  Absently, his fingers rolled the ring on his left hand before he looked down at it.  His engagement ring.  It brought a smile to his face.  In a half hour or so, there would be a new ring fitting snug against it, another ring he planned to wear for the rest of his life. 

 

He paced the room, feeling a mixture of nervousness and excitement.  This was his wedding day, and while this was his second time going through this, it was the only one he ever planned to do again.  There were multiple reasons why his first marriage had failed, and honestly, he had known they never should have gotten married in the first place.  It had lasted three years, and in the end, after having been cheated on repeatedly, he’d left.  He’d believed he deserved better, and he’d found that with Cas.  There wasn’t a doubt in his mind that this was the man he was meant to spend the rest of his life with.

 

They’d been introduced by Dean’s sister in law, Eileen, and though they ran in generally the same social circles, they’d never met until that night.  It was Kevin’s twenty fifth birthday, and Dean had shown up with Charlie, Benny, his brother Sam, and Sam’s then girlfriend, Eileen.  Kevin was Sam’s best friend from Stanford, and Dean had been invited to the party because he’d always gotten along well with Kevin.  He’d expected to drink a few beers, talk with some of the people he knew, and just enjoy a night out with friends.  His divorce was still fresh in his mind and he wasn’t looking for love, or even to flirt harmlessly.  He wasn’t sure he would ever be ready, but then Eileen had introduced him to a group of people she knew from work, and he’d found them all to be very nice.  Two women in particular kept flirting, and he kept trying to discourage them.  He wouldn’t have been interested in the first place, but how do you politely say “Hey, I just ended my marriage to my ex-husband, could you please just back the fuck off?”  He’d finally needed to escape them, to catch his breath and see if he couldn’t find some of his friends, so he’d gone out on the balcony to enjoy a beer alone first. 

 

The balcony wasn’t empty though.  There was a couple there, talking heatedly and he was about to leave when the woman suddenly pushed past him and stormed back into the apartment.  Dean was left standing awkwardly with this guy, someone he’d never seen before, and whose expression was downright stormy.  He’d been about to slip back into the apartment when Eileen suddenly appeared.  To this day he wasn’t exactly sure how she’d found him, but there she was, signing to this stranger, this man she knew well enough to know that he could understand her and sign back, and then she was introducing them.  His name was Castiel, and he was pharmacist, an old friend of Eileen’s from college.  He was grumpy at first, but Dean noticed the way his eyes had lit up with interest when Eileen had introduced them and despite how attractive he’d found the man in return, he just wasn’t interested.  He’d managed to politely excuse himself and disappear back into the apartment.  Shortly after that, he’d called an Uber and gone home.

 

That had been the first time they’d met.  Six months later, Sam proposed to Eileen.  Six months after that, that there was a fancy engagement party and Dean was proud to be there to support his baby brother.  He was going to be Sam’s best man, and he’d given an epic speech at the party, saving an even better one for the actual wedding.  The party had been classy, everyone dressed in suits and cocktail dresses, and he’d been thinking how beautiful Eileen looked in her pale pink dress when someone had said hello.  The deep voice carried with it the echo of a memory and he’d turned to see familiar blue eyes looking at him.  He had blanked on the man’s name, but Castiel had reminded him.  This time, without Eileen as a buffer, he’d explained that he preferred to be called Cas.  He was friendly, and that interest he’d shown at Kevin’s party seemed to be amplified as he’d taken in Dean and his perfectly tailored suit.  Except Dean still wasn’t interested.  He’d made polite conversation again but Sam had appeared, pulling him away and then he’d spent the rest of the night being introduced to people from Eileen’s family, and her bridesmaids.  He hadn’t seen Cas again that night, but he also hadn’t been thinking about the man.  His focus had been on Sam and Eileen, and everyone else had been put out of mind.

 

The wedding was three months after that.  He’d been running around like a chicken with his head cut off trying to get all of his best man duties done and it had preoccupied him too much to even think of lining up a date.  Since the divorce he still hadn’t started dating again.  He’d had to go to therapy afterwards, and was still in it, trying to come to terms with why his ex had done what he’d done, and to come to terms with the fact that he wasn’t to blame.  He was barely a year out from the divorce and dating was still the last thing on his mind.  Making it through each day was a higher priority, and completing his duties as the best man at his brother’s wedding, so everything would go off without a hitch. 

 

Even if he hadn’t been as busy as he was, he still wouldn’t have gone looking for a date.  It wasn’t that there weren’t a plethora of handsome men that would have happily gone with him, it was that he was just disinterested.  He wasn’t in a good place to think about even a single date to a wedding, let alone anything more than that, so when, for the third time he met Cas at the reception, and this time the man had asked him out, he’d had to make it clear that he wasn’t looking to date.  Cas had seemed quite disappointed, and he’d felt guilty turning the man down, so he’d told him, ask him again in a year.  If he was still interested, then he’d agree to a date, but in the meantime, he needed time to heal and get over his ex.  Cas, as he’d learned later on, had taken that as a challenge, and after the reception they’d parted ways, not seeing one another for a long, long time.  That didn’t mean the man had given up.  No, if anything, he was even more determined to get Dean’s attention.

 

Two years passed before he saw Cas again.  It was at a New Year’s party Sam and Eileen were throwing, and though he’d tried his hand here and there at dating, no one had really held his interest, so he had come stag to the party.  To make matters even worse, his ex-husband had shown up because someone had brought him as his date.  He’d been smug when he’d seen that Dean had come alone, and it had almost made him leave.  Almost.  It was nearly midnight when Cas had arrived, the woman that he’d been arguing with the first time Dean had met him was on his arm, and this time they seemed much more civil towards one another.  Dean felt even more like shit and decided going home and going to bed sounded a hell of a lot better than sticking around and seeing both his ex _and_ Cas kissing other people to ring in the new year.  He’d just ordered an Uber when Cas had found him lingering near the front door.  He’d been snippy, irritated that the man was flirting with him when he’d come with a date, and he’d told him to go back to her, but a quick explanation had set things straight.  She was Cas’ _sister_ , his twin sister, to be specific, not his girlfriend.  Cas was gay, women held no interest for him, and as the bell had rung in the new year, he’d grabbed Dean and kissed him like his life depended on it.  For the first time in years, he found himself kissing someone back just as hard.

 

This time, when Cas asked him out, he said yes.  It scared the hell out of him, saying yes to a date, but the following weekend he found himself going out to dinner with an incredibly attractive and nice man.  He’d surprised himself by agreeing to a second date, and then a third.  Before he knew it he was dating Cas.  He wasn’t sure exactly how it happened, but casual dating turned into a real relationship, and the first time they’d had sex, it had been absolutely mind blowing. 

 

It was the first time Cas had said “I love you” that he’d had a small panic attack.  The fear that he would leave, that this wouldn’t last had been paralyzing, and it had taken time and patience on Cas’ part to help him realize that he wasn’t like Dean’s ex, and he wasn’t going anywhere.  So he’d said it back finally, two months later and the scary part about that was that he’d meant it.  Somehow, some way, he’d fallen in love with the messy haired pharmacist with the deep blue eyes and the rumbling voice. 

 

One year passed, then two.  Dean had only dated his ex-husband a year before his ex had proposed.  They’d made it only a few years after that before their marriage had crumbled.  Now though, he saw his future with Cas, but he wasn’t ready for marriage, and Cas knew it.

 

Two years turned into three turned into four, and Dean was finally starting to think in terms of marriage, family, a house, and he wanted those things with Cas.  His boyfriend seemed to sense that change in him and he’d come home one evening to find a romantic dinner had been arranged, and he’d been sent off to get changed into one of his suits.  He’d chosen his nicest one, thinking they were going out to celebrate his promotion to vice principal, but instead he’d found his boyfriend getting down on one knee.  Seeing Cas like that had not triggered the panic he’d expected, but instead he’d found himself getting excited, and the overwhelming love he’d felt for Cas in that moment had been nothing like what he’d felt towards his ex.  Cas was nothing like him, and he knew he would spend the rest of his life with this man.  They’d get married, start a family, buy a house together, and have everything a loving, happy couple should have.

 

That had been two years ago.  They’d taken their time planning the wedding.  First, they’d wanted to find the house of their dreams, so they’d done that.  From there they’d begun looking into different adoption agencies.  They’d wanted to have that ready so that after the wedding, they could begin seriously looking into starting their family. 

 

Now, here he stood, pacing this room at the back of the church, waiting for his best friend and his brother to come in and calm his nerves.  When the door opened, he turned to see Sam walking in.  Benny was right on his heels.

 

“You ready, brother?”  Benny asked.  Dean took a deep breath and smiled as he exhaled.

 

“I’ve been ready,”

 

“He’s the one, the one you’ve always wanted, that you deserved,”  Sam walked over and grasped his arms.  He looked his brother in the eye for a moment before pulling Dean into a hug.

 

“He’s the best thing to ever happen to me,”  Dean swallowed against the lump in his throat as he hugged his brother back.

 

“Careful, or you’ll wrinkle that fancy suit,”  Benny said before grabbing him and hugging him too.  Dean laughed and patted him on the back.  He stood back and tugged his jacket down so it wasn’t bunched up.

 

“I look good?”

 

“You’re going to take his breath away,”  Sam smiled at him, and it calmed his frazzled nerves.

 

“Charlie gave me her grandfather’s handkerchief.  It matches my tie so well, it’s almost freaky,”  Dean touched the silk again, lightly so as not to get the oils from his skin on it.

 

“She told me she was going to do that, but I didn’t realize it would match this closely.  You’re right, it is freaky,”  Sam leaned in to look at it better, comparing it to his brother’s silk tie. 

 

“It looks good,”  Benny fixed it since it had gotten crumpled a bit with all the hugging, and smoothed down the tie.

 

“I can’t believe I’m getting married again,”  Dean shook his head in disbelief.  Every time he thought about it, he was stunned all over again. 

 

“The first one is null and void.  We all consider that a momentary lapse in judgment,”  Sam said, grinning.  Dean and Benny both laughed.

 

“Yeah, I chalk it up to being young and stupid.  I’ve had time to mature, to know what I really want, and I want Cas.  I want him and everything that comes with him.  The ups, the downs, a family, our house, I just, I want all of it, but only with him.  I can’t imagine my life without him in it.  I feel stupid for pushing him away for as long as I did.  I could have had this sooner if I would have just let him in,”  Dean looked at himself in the mirror again, making sure his suit wasn’t wrinkled.

 

“You weren’t ready then.  You needed time to heal, to reclaim your life, and entering into a relationship before you were ready would have doomed whatever you and Cas might have had then.  When you were ready, you let him in and that’s how you ended up with a man that adores you, and you’re about to start the rest of your lives together.  What you two have, it’s real.  It’s love, but it’s more than that.  He accepts you, flaws and all, and you do the same with him.  If I didn’t already have that with Eileen, I’d be jealous.  I always wanted this for you.  You didn’t have this with Spencer, everyone knew it.  Lord knows I tried to talk you out of marrying him, but I chalk it up to a lesson learned.  You needed that life experience so that when Cas finally came into your life, you would know what real, true love was. 

 

“Everything happens for a reason, and what has happened in your life, it has led you to be the person you are now, the person Cas fell in love with, and has brought you to a place where you are ready to marry the man you love more than anything in the world.  You have the house of your dreams, you’re about to get serious about adopting a baby, this is what you deserve, and I’m unbelievably happy for you.  Don’t compare your first marriage to this one because they’re completely different.  Cas is so much better for you, and you’re good for him too.  This is going to be a fantastic day and we’re going to celebrate all night,”  Sam patted his brother on the back as he talked.  Dean huffed out a small laugh as he looked up at him.

 

“Thanks for the early best man speech, but when you recite it again at the reception, make sure you _don’t_ mention Spencer, ok?”

 

Sam and Benny both laughed.

 

“You feeling more confident?”  Sam asked.

 

“I was never _not_ confident.  I know I’m making the right decision, and that Cas is the one I’m meant to spend the rest of my life with.  I’m just nervous to do it in front of everyone we know,”

 

“I was too, when Andrea and I tied the knot.  It’s nerve racking having everyone staring at you.  Heaven forbid your underwear ride up, or your nose starts to itch,”  Benny chuckled.

 

“Gee, thanks,”  Dean adjusted his boxer briefs, just to make sure they were perfectly comfortable.  Someone knocked and a second later Charlie was poking her head in.

 

“Ok, we have to move quickly to get these pictures!”

 

She had them posing for another dozen pictures, and then someone else was knocking.  Charlie squealed and clapped excitedly.  “It’s time!  That means Cas is waiting up at the altar,”  She poked her head out the door.  “Gabe’s heading up now with Jo, everyone get in place!”

 

Dean took one last cleansing breath before nodding.  “I wish mom and dad were here to see this,”

 

“They’re here,”  Sam assured him.  “They’ve always been watching.”  He headed for the door and Benny followed. 

 

“Get in place, Dean,”  Charlie told him.  He stepped into the hall and saw Sam taking Meg’s arm.  Benny was in front of them, taking Cas’ sister Hannah’s arm while Charlie lined up in front of them with Cas’ cousin, Balthazar.  He stepped up behind his brother and Meg, taking one last breath to steady himself, then followed after them.  This was the beginning of the rest of his life, and he couldn’t wait to get started.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed this one. We're on to the next one!


End file.
